Retail Centers Research Articles

The Impact of Suburban Population Growth on Central City Service Functions

The present study investigates the relationship between suburban population growth and service functions performed in central cities of 168 SMSAs. While most sociologists acknowledge that the suburban population influences the service structure of central cities, the degree of that influence appears to have been underestimated. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis demonstrate that the suburban population has a large impact on central city retail trade, wholesale trade, business and repair services, and public servicesprovided by central city governments. More detailed examination of the public sector shows that the suburban population, in general, and the commuting population, in particular, exerts strong effects on police, fire, highway, sanitation, recreation, and general administrative functions in the central cities. The impact of the suburban population on these central city public services remains strong when controls such as central city size and age, annexation, per capita income of cent...

A Note on Interchange Location Practices by Developers of Major Retail Centers

A Note on Interchange Location Practices by Developers of Major Retail Centers

Variable relationships in central place and retail potential models

Davies R. L. (1970) Variable relationships in central place and retail potential models, Reg. Studies 4, 49–61. Considerable efforts have been spent by geographers and planners to find suitable measures of the concepts of centrality and attractiveness in shopping models. Numerous indices have been advocated which emphasize the functional and qualitative aspects of shopping centres, but these vary in nature and scope and are often dependent on field surveys or special computations. From examination of three case-study areas, it is shown that such indices are not necessarily in any more agreement with each other in hierarchic rank placements of shopping centres than they are with rankings assigned by more general variables of census statistics. It is questioned whether their applicability to shopping studies in a practical context is any greater than use of certain more commonly available and compatible census data.

A Research Note on Major Retail Center Patronage

A Research Note on Major Retail Center Patronage

A Research Note on Major Retail Center Patronage

Relationships between social class perceptions and major retail center patronage decisions are analyzed in this article. The analysis is a departure from traditional trading area delineation studies which rely primarily on the income variable and consumer cost considerations.

Shopping center location and retail store mix in metropolitan areas

Abstract Retail sales in 1963 in 116 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA’s) are related to SMSA size in 1960. Nucleated sales occur in the Central Business District (CBD) and in Major Retail Centers (MRC’s). As SMSA’s grow, the proportion of sales in MRC’s increases and that in the CBD decreases. The ratio of nucleated sales to dispersed sales remains constant. The laws of economic location operate to place shopping goods primarily in the CBD and in MRC’s whereas convenience and other types of stores disperse throughout the SMSA. Plotting the straight line distance of every MRC relative to the CBD and computing the mix of trade types in MRC’s reveals that, with some modifications, most MRC’s have a mix of store types similar to the CBD. Convenience stores are somewhat more important and all other stores less so than they are in the CBD. The findings support the Harris-Ullman multiple nuclei hypothesis.

Selected spatial variables and central business district retail sales

Selected spatial variables and central business district retail sales

In Southern California: Bankers Meet Challenge of Booming Population

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA banking institutions today face the greatest challenge as well as the greatest opportunity in the history of this dynamic metropolitan area. Commerce and industry are expanding at an unprecedented rate and banks must keep on the move to provide the service vitally needed in this important market area. From a sleepy Spanish pueblo, Los Angeles has grown, in little over a century, to a city which one day may well be the world's largest metropolis. Most of this explosive growth has taken place in the brief period since the end of World War II. Even in the period immediately following the war, Los Angeles County was the world's leader in agricultural production. Orange groves stretched for miles from the towering San Gabriel Mountains, which surround the Los Angeles basin, to the beautiful beaches which stretch from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Despite the dominance of agriculture, Los Angeles was best known for another industry-motion pictures. Aircraft manufacturing pretty well rounded out the economic picture at the conclusion of hostilities. Today, it's an entirely different story. The center of a sprawling 13-county market, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (Los Angeles and Orange counties) covers almost 5,000 square miles. Los Angeles not only is the heart of Southern California, but it dominates the West. It is a completely self-sufficient metropolitan community almost isolated, in fact, except for San Francisco 400 odd miles north, and San Diego some 100 miles to the south. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area today is the nation's second largest retail center and ranks third in population, buying power, employment, wholesaling, manufacturing and banking. Moreover, it appears that this is only the beginning. Dr. Robert R. Dockson, Union Bank's consulting economist, who is dean-elect of the University of Southern California School of Commerce, has gained international recognition for his recently published study of this area, which forecasts a population of 10,300,000 by 1975. What does a well established, conservative banking institution do in such a vigorous atmosphere? Certainly, no important business or industry, including banking, could hope to maintain leadership in Southern California without changing and adapting to meet the needs of such circumstances. From its founding in 1914 up until late 1957, Union Bank had chosen to remain a single location bank, headquartered in downtown Los Angeles. By offering a highly personalized service to its customers-primarily in commerce, industry, finance and the professionsUnion Bank was able to grow and prosper through the years despite tremendous competition. Through a streamlined bank-by-mail operation and an aggressive commercial lending program, as well as many other specialized services, Union Bank increased its business at a steady rate until, today, it ranks 58th in total deposits among the nation's more than 15,000 banking institutions. During the post-war period, 19481957, the bank grew at a rate even greater than the average for Southem California banks as a whole, with resources mounting from $157 million to $420 million. While this growth continued at a record pace, Union Bank management became aware that its customers and deposit base were spreading with commerce and industry over the broad expanse of this 400-mile square market. Downtown Los Angeles was becoming more and more remote from the outlying communities which were mushrooming at an unbelievable rate. Distances and traffic were becoming more and more formidable. It was a time for a review of policy and new action. At Union Bank we felt we had to move quickly and intelligently to meet the complex needs of commerce and industry which, in turn, were struggling to serve constantly increasing demands. When Union Bank's board of directors decided to break with its 43-year tradition of one-location banking, it realized the break must be made in a special way. We were faced with some difficult problems.

The Retail Pattern of Manila

THE pattern of retail structure in Manila reveals that combination of Eastern and Western influences which pervades nearly all aspects of the city. Historical associations with Spain and the United States are reflected again and again, yet the city retains the flavor of an Asiatic metropolis. Reconstruction of the war-devastated sections, plus a postwar growth of the urban population to more than two million persons, has placed a severe strain on the pre-existing retail facilities. The resultant expansion in retail structure tends to follow long-established patterns. A street-by-street survey reveals three distinctive patterns or combinations of patterns. Scattered through the city are I4 public markets, selling mainly foodstuffs, each market tending to be the core of a compact retail district. Along certain principal streets, retail stores are concentrated in a linear pattern, and throughout the residential areas there is a widespread scattering of tiny neighborhood stores. In a few places the three patterns blend; the most important is a zone of heavy retail concentration in the vicinity of the Escolta and Rizal Avenue midway between the Quinta, Central, and Divisoria Markets. This is the central retail district of Manila (Fig. i).

Changes in the Central European Retail Trade

Changes in the Central European Retail Trade

A Morphological Study of Peking

This article is based on observations and data collected during my visit to Peking in the autumn of 1938. 1) Peking as the capital of the Han-culture. (Han is the crown name of cultural China) _??_pp. 213-18_??_. Important descriptions: (A) Town wall and the reason why it has been required, on the contrary to Japanese towns which have had no, wall _??_p. 241-_??_. (B) Races which set Peking as their capital were the Manchurians Mongolian, and Turkistan people, but town planning of Peking has been derived of Chow, and has very intimate relation to Chang-an and Loyang, two old capitals of the proper chinese states. 2) The Plan of Peking _??_pp. 218-25_??_ (A) The difference between Peking or Fengtien and Kyôto or Changan as to the situation of imperial palace (Fig. 1, 2, 3) (B) Compari-sion of the length of wall on 5 different maps of Peking _??_p. 220-_??_. (C) Classification of roads _??_p. 222-_??_: (i) Tache (Large street), (ii) Che (Street), (iii) Hoton (Side street, most developed name of mongolian origin), Kow, and etc., (iv) Fang, Wan., Kan, and etc. (these mean engulfed places). (D) Systems of roads (Fig. 9).: (a) Regular Hoton-system, (b) Irregular system composed of roads of (iii) and (iv) types (c) Pseudo radial system in the south castle 3) The Elevation of Peking _??_pp. 225-230_??_ Peking is called the capital of Sophora which, mixed with other trees such as ulms and willows, make a green ocean when, one views from Chingshan at the north end of the Tzu-chin-chemg palace. Important descriptions: (A) Residential houses _??_p. 225-_??_, one house-type, Su-ho-fang is illustrated in Fig. 10. (B) Retail streets _??_p. 226-_??_. After the classification of Japan Commercial and Industrial Congress, varieties of shops in. Wong-pu-ching near the Legation quarter re-sembles to Ginza in Tôkyô, showing a cosmopolitan character compared to Dahshi-lan, the most thriving retail centre in Peking, of which shops are almost typical Chinese (Fig. 12). 4) The increase of population from 1925 to 35, is 24.2% and in the year of 1935 it amounts to 1, 573, 200 of which 1.1 million live in the wall and others are in suburbs. Kyôto and Nagoya, one million cities in Japan are able to be compared to Peking-proper, but they show 30.8% and 41.7, increase respectively in the same period. The comparision of occupational population is described in page 231 (see the table), and it shows that Peking has a very small percentage, of manu-facturing population, i. e. 7.7%. In near future Peking will be enlarged in the suburb for the use of manufacture and residence.